`We´re just going to be strong for our kids until the end.´ Toronto family experiences terror at false missile alert in Hawaii(The Star Theatre)

14 january 2018 07:27:18

HONOLULU—A push alert that warned of a ballistic missile heading straight for Hawaii and sent residents into a full-blown panic Saturday was issued by mistake, state emergency officials said.The emergency alert, which was sent to cellphones just before 8:10 a.m., said in all caps, “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted there was no threat about 10 minutes after the initial alert, but that didn’t reach people who aren’t on the social media platform. A revised alert informing of the “false alarm” didn’t reach phones until 38 minutes later, according to the time stamp on images people shared on social media.Agency spokesperson Richard Repoza confirmed it was a false alarm and said the agency is trying to determine what happened.Toronto couple Alison Mann and her husband, Brad Fauteux, on vacation in Hawaii with their two children, were renting a house in Kuliouou, 15 minutes outside Honolulu.They were in their bedroom, talking about the activities they planned on doing later that day when they received the alert on their phones. “My throat was dry. I was terrified. I was shaking,” Mann recalled, adding the alert was also being broadcast on television. The couple gathered their children and started packing their bags with passports, water and some food.Read more:Vodka shots and ‘I love you’ texts — How Canadian couples vacationing in Hawaii prepared for the endAnalysis: Get used to it. Under Trump, the threat of nuclear war is the new normalOpinion | Thomas Walkom: ‘Little rocket man’ cleverly changes debate around North Korean nukesThe owner of the home came to check on them a few minutes later, telling them to stay calm and wait for further instructions.At that point, Mann said their two children, Eloise, 11, and Lillie, 9, were in tears. “They kept saying ‘We just w ...